Gulf Coast News

Port Manatee Shatters H1 Cargo Records

Port Manatee has enjoyed the busiest first fiscal half in its nearly 50-year history, shattering several key cargo records for the six-month period ended March 31.The Central-Southwest Florida Gulf Coast port has achieved new first-half highs for total tonnage throughput and containerized and bulk cargo activity, according to figures released on Thursday, April 18, at the regular monthly meeting of the Manatee County Port Authority.Record accomplishments of Port Manatee in its first fiscal half…

Bahri Expands Footprint in Asia-Pac

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has announced the expansion of its market presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region’s maritime industry.The stronger presence will help the company gain deeper insights into market trends as well as customer needs in chemicals and logistics sectors in Singapore and the wider APAC region, said a press release from the logistics and transportation company.The expansion will also enable Bahri Logistics and Bahri Chemicals, two of five business units of the company…

Port of New Orleans to buy New Gantry Cranes

New Cranes Allow Port NOLA to Accommodate Larger Ships and Meet Growing Needs. The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) have voted to approve the purchase of two new 100-foot gauge container gantry cranes to be used at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. “These new cranes are vital to our success and growth here at Port NOLA,” said President and CEO Brandy D. Christian. “They will increase our efficiency so we can accommodate larger and wider ships…

Trafigura Sends More Asian Gasoline to Americas

Commodity trader Trafigura is shipping this month a second newly built crude tanker with Asian gasoline onboard to South America amid strong demand in the West, four industry sources who closely monitor petrol trade flows said on Thursday.Although it is not uncommon for traders to use a brand new crude tanker of 150,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) to ship clean fuels such as diesel, it is rare to use them for gasoline because of the sheer size."South America likely needs gasoline more than gasoil now.

Kinder Morgan quits Crude Export Venture

Kinder Morgan Inc has dropped out of a recently proposed U.S. Gulf Coast deepwater crude export venture, the project's leader Enbridge Inc said on Monday.The $800 million project, known as Texas COLT, is one of eight similar projects proposing facilities that would move U.S. shale to overseas markets by loading supertankers able to carry up to 2 million barrels apiece.Pipeline operators Enbridge and Kinder Morgan disclosed plans to build an crude export terminal off Freeport, Texas, in January, and filed permit applications with the U.S. Maritime Administration.

TX Refineries Cut Output as Spill Curbs Shipping

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and LyondellBasell Industries cut production on Monday at their Houston-area oil refineries because of shipping disruptions along a waterway affected by a petrochemical fire and spill, according to people familiar with the matter.A fire and fuel leak at Mitsui & Co Inc's Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) storage facility in Deer Park, Texas, last week sent gasoline, water and fire suppressant foam into the Houston Ship Channel, which connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico, and is home to nine oil refineries.The U.S.

Imports at Annual Low on Seasonal Lull, Tariff Worries

With the retail industry in its annual lull between seasons and plans for a tariff increase on hold, imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to drop to their lowest level in almost a year this month, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.“Now that the holiday season is over and summer has yet to crank up, this is the quiet time of year for retail supply chains,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

Moda Midstream Eyes Second TX VLCC Berth

Moda Midstream LLC is considering building a second berth at its Ingleside, Texas, crude export terminal to accommodate booming shale oil production on the Gulf Coast, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.The expansion to the terminal that loads oil tankers will come as three major pipelines open in the second half of 2019, CEO Bo McCall said in an interview. Moda is also increasing the facility's crude storage capacity to 10 million barrels from 2 million."When these new pipelines come online…

Securing, Enhancing America’s Ports & Supply Chain

The American Association of Port Authorities and its membership recently looked ahead at the challenges and opportunities facing the Port Security Grant Program.In its annual “State of Freight” series, AAPA has highlighted the transportation infrastructure needs of U.S. ports, state transportation agencies and multimodal projects. In this final report in the State of Freight series, AAPA turns to the vital role that security infrastructure plays in moving goods.In 2002, Congress…

McCarthy Promotes Schulte

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Southern Region has promoted Mike Schulte to Vice President Operations for the Marine/Industrial Business Unit. In this role, Schulte is responsible for oversight of the marine and industrial industries. He will manage all marine, port client and industrial relationships as well as projects in Texas and across the Gulf Coast. He possesses strong ties to the market and brings a depth of experience in the industry. Additionally, Schulte will lead the new Channelview office, set to officially open on Feb.

QP, Exxon to Build $10B LNG Plant in Texas

Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum announced a final decision to finance a $10 billion-plus project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Texas Gulf Coast.Construction of the Golden Pass LNG export project located in Sabine Pass will begin in the first quarter of 2019 and the facility is expected to start up in 2024, said a press release.“Golden Pass will provide an increased, reliable, long-term supply of liquefied natural gas to global gas markets, stimulate local growth and create thousands of jobs…

Offshore Terminal Plan Slowed by U.S. Shutdown

The U.S. government shutdown has delayed Enterprise Products Partners LP's plan to build a major U.S. crude export terminal off Houston, blocking the pipeline operator from filing paperwork with U.S. regulators, an executive said on Wednesday.Enterprise plans to file a 10,000-page permit application with the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard as soon as the U.S. government reopens. It takes about a year for regulators to process an application for a deep-water terminal."Tell me when the government opens and I'll tell you when it happens…

First U.S. Crude Cargoes Head to China Since Trade Breakthrough

Three cargoes of U.S. crude are heading to China from the U.S. Gulf Coast, trade sources said on Monday, the first departures since late September and a 90-day pause in the two countries' trade war that began last month.The vessels left Galveston, Texas, last month and are scheduled to arrive at Chinese ports between late January and early March, according to shipbrokers and vessel tracking data. The shipments mark a change since Chinese buyers largely began avoiding U.S. oil during the trade dispute that flared last summer."It looks like China has resumed purchasing U.S.

US Oil Export Boom Sparks Battle to Build Texas Ports

Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier…

Moda Midstream Loads First Supertanker at South Texas Terminal

Moda Midstream LLC, owner of a U.S. Gulf Coast crude export terminal, on Thursday began partially loading the first supertanker at its Ingleside, Texas, facility, the company said.The Houston-based operator, which purchased the facility from Occidental Petroleum Corp. in August, recently installed equipment capable of loading up to 80,000 barrels of crude oil per hour onto Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs, which carry up to 2 million barrels.At a depth of 47 feet, the waterway near the terminal is deep enough to allow the company to load only 1.2 million barrels onto supertankers.

Hamburg Süd Begins Seasonal Service for Mangos and Grapes

German shipping company Hamburg Süd is resuming its weekly direct service from Peru’s Port of Paita to Philadelphia just in time for the forthcoming mango and grape season in South America.The international logistics service provider said in a press release that with a transit time of eleven days, the service provides exporters in Peru and US importers a premium product designed specifically with these sensitive cargoes in mind.The release quoted Frank Smet, Chief Commercial Officer…

Argus Adds New Marine Fuel Price Assessments

Oil price reporting agency Argus has launched five new price assessments for low-sulphur marine fuels, ahead of new global rules capping the amount of sulphur in marine fuels, also known as bunkers.International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations will cut the limit for sulphur in bunker fuels globally from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from the start of 2020."Argus is pleased to be taking the lead in bringing price transparency that enables this large and emerging oil market to advance trading in preparation for the IMO 2020 required fuels…

U.S. Pipeline Operators Reap Hefty Profits from Bottlenecks in Texas

Some of the biggest pipeline operators in the United States have supercharged earnings this year by buying deeply discounted shale in West Texas oilfields and selling it at a premium at Gulf Coast ports.These companies are taking advantage of extraordinary markdowns in West Texas where surging production and a lack of pipeline space sent the regional price for oil in late August $23 per barrel below the coastal price in Houston.Record profits illustrate the divide between the haves - those with guaranteed pipeline space - and the have nots, producers that must sell oil at the wellhead.

NRF: Retail Imports Slowing but Remain Strong For Now

Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports have slowed down from their pre-holiday peak but remain at unusually high levels as retailers continue bringing in merchandise before tariffs increase in January, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.“Imports have usually dropped off significantly by this time of year but we’re still seeing numbers that could have set records in the past,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

Tellurian to Start Building LNG Export Plant in 2019

U.S. liquefied natural gas company Tellurian Inc said on Wednesday it expects to start construction on its Driftwood LNG export terminal in Louisiana in the first half of 2019 and begin operations in 2023.Chief Executive Meg Gentle said in the company's third-quarter earnings that Tellurian will announce partners in the $27.5 billion project by the end of 2018.Driftwood is one of dozens LNG export projects under development in the United States seeking customers so they can start construction and enter service over the next decade to meet growing global demand for the fuel.U.S.

Gulfport’s Long Road Back From Hurricane Katrina

When Jonathan Daniels, executive director of the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport spoke to the audience at the annual state of the port luncheon July 27, 2018 at the newly rebuilt Island View Casino, he had a lot to offer in terms of jobs. And he had two aces in the hole: SeaOne, an untested compressed liquefied gas company and Yilport, a terminal company operated by an ambitious Turkish port developer. Both had letters of intent dating back two years with much to do.As has been the case since before Daniels took over from Don Allee in 2013…

Magellan Bids to Build U.S. GoM Oil Export Terminal

Magellan Midstream Partners LP on Thursday became the latest company to join a crowded group looking to build an oil export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast designed to load supertankers.U.S. oil exports are expanding rapidly, but volumes are constrained because the country's shores have limited capability to load giant vessels that can carry about 2 million barrels of crude oil.Numerous companies - including private equity firm Carlyle Group and commodities merchant Trafigura…

BBC Chartering Joins Seaboard to Create “Andino Service”

As part of their mission to improve services for shippers moving cargo between the US Gulf Coast, Jamaica, and ports in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, Seaboard Marine and BBC Chartering are pleased to announce a new strategic cooperation which will be marketed as “Andino Service.”A press release from the international shipping company based in Leer, Germany said that beginning as early as November 2018, BBC and the ocean transportation service provider in North America Seaboard Marine…

Cheniere to Commission 1st Corpus Christi LNG Cargo

Cheniere Energy will commission the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from its new Corpus Christi export terminal on Nov. 15, the Texas port's chief executive said on Tuesday.The commissioning of the cargo, months ahead of schedule, will mark the start of operations at Cheniere's second LNG export facility and only the third major export facility in the United States.The Corpus Christi terminal had been undergoing commissioning work since the summer and while it was scheduled to come onstream in the first half of next year…

US Energy Exports to China Plummet

It's probably not the kind of success U.S. President Donald Trump had in mind, but his trade dispute with China has effectively killed off the burgeoning energy trade between the world's two biggest economies.China's imports of U.S. crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal have slowed to a trickle amid the escalating tit-for-tat tariff war.Perhaps the irony of the collapse in China's energy imports from the United States was that this was the area most likely to deliver…

Port of New Orleans Handles Largest Containership to Date

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) welcomed its largest containership ever when the CMA CGM operated Pusan C, a 9,500 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) vessel, called on October 8 at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal operated by Ports America.“The deployment of larger vessels highlights our strong growth in container volumes and the success of the PEX 3 service connecting America’s heartland to global markets like Asia,” said Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans President and CEO.